Blood-testing centre is saved

A BLOOD-TESTING centre threatened with closure has been saved. Last year the NHS Blood & Transplant Service said it would close its processing site in Newcastle, with the loss of up to 250 jobs over three years.

Last year the NHS Blood & Transplant Service said it would close its processing site in Newcastle, with the loss of up to 250 jobs over three years.

But staff and unions protested against the closure and have now been told that the centre, on Barrack Road, Newcastle, will remain open, meaning everyone will keep their job.

Michael Lorraine, 44, a senior technical officer and Unite representative, of Washington, said: “The staff were told by e-mail and everyone is over the moon with it.

“I have worked there for 16 years and others have been there 25 to 30 years. If it had closed they would have lost all of that service and expertise.

“I thought some of the departments would have gone, the testing one – mine – being one of them, but they are all still here. We are delighted.”

And Jeff Tate, Unite regional officer, said: “This is great news for the staff who work there and the wider community in general because it is an important place. If they had closed it, the nearest like-for-like centre would have been many miles away.

“Near to the centre is the Freeman Hospital, which is a centre for heart transplants and needs blood all the time. This could have been delayed if the centre was closed down.

“We are reversing closures and that is fantastic news.”

Last year scores of workers, holding placards showing hearts with arrows through them hit the streets around the centre, in Holland Drive, Spital Tongues.

The proposed closure of the centre was part of a national proposal which could have seen 700 jobs go in England and Wales over four years.

The future of other blood-testing centres across the country has still not been decided.

Rakesh Vasishtha, national communications manager for the NHS Blood & Transplant Service, said: “We undertook a review and took on board all of the concerns of our staff and I can say that Newcastle will remain open.

“In fact it will be used for testing and other procedures that it may not have been used for before.

“We are currently looking to make ourselves more efficient and there will be other changes but it does not look likely that Newcastle will be affected.”